Kas - Fethiye

(I am currently en route to Istanbul, arriving tonight just in time for Thanksgiving in Turkey. Here's the story from our last week or so of travel. Unfortunately I can't upload photos right now. Later!)

Leaving Antalya, Sarah and I decided to hitch hike. Seriously. I have never tried before and thought it was a bit crazy, but Sarah hitches around Canada often and she insisted that we try in Turkey. Well, I'm down for just about anything so why not? Devrim took us in a taxi to the highway out of town, by the beach. She even paid for the taxi and wouldn't take no for an answer. She's too nice.

After about 40 minutes of attempted hitching we were picked up by a nice German couple traveling to meet the woman's sister-in-law in Kas. Again, really nice people! They drove us about 120 miles in their spiffy rental car, stopping to buy us tea along the way. Their daughter is traveling abroad and this was their first vacation without kids, so I think they were excited to pick us up and have some company. 

In Kas we met our next CS host, Ümit. He is a diving instructor. We met at a cafe in the town center, then walked up to his place. Ümit's apartment is located above the town with a fantastic view of Kas. We went for a walk and met our friend Riaki, as she was traveling a day ahead of Sarah and me. Kas is a nice little town on the coast that would be absolute paradise in the summer. It was pretty cold during our stay, though. We spent our time eating, drinking, and talking with Ümit and his German friend Anna.

In the morning Sarah and I met Riaki and we all took a bus to Fethiye. Too rainy for hitch hiking. The city is much larger than Kas (Fethiye is about the size of Bellingham), but for whatever reason we couldn't find a CS host. So we found a hostel instead: the Fethiye Guesthouse. It has a great location near the marina. We planned to stay one night and ended up staying three! The showers were cold and we slept in dorm beds, but the people were great and it was dirt cheap. 

During our stay in Fethiye we made friends with locals and fellow travelers at the hostel. Every night was spent socializing with the friendly staff. Mustafa, the manager, was easy to talk to and he made us breakfast each morning. There's seemingly no end to the Turkish hospitality around these parts!

We took a day trip from Fethiye to Ölüdeniz, one of Mediterranean Turkey's popular beaches. It was a sunny and cold November day and we had the beach to ourselves. However, we had. Lot of ground to cover in only three hours. We started walking south toward our destination: Butterfly Valley. The distance is about 15km...uphill. So we hitched. We were picked up by three different cars throughout the afternoon, each, traveling 3km or so to their destination and dropping us off. The most interesting experience was being picked up by a man and 4 kids...we managed to fit 8 people in a 5-seat car! His English was rather limited and he misunderstood our destination, driving a couple kilometers too far. Oops. We walked back to Butterfly Valley, checked out the view, and  met some nice travelers hanging out in the area. 

Later we went to catch the bus back to Fethiye and our friend with the 4 kids drove up again. We piled in the car and all headed back to his cafe in Fethiye, where we enjoyed some tasty Turkish food and left a nice tip. Heading back to the hostel we discovered two things: my new favorite Turkish beer and a giant lemon. The beer, Marmara Gold, is complete rubbish. Think PBR, or even worse, maybe Busch. But it's CHEAP. A huge bottle costs 5TL. And it's actually pretty good with a slice of lemon. Corona style :)

Next day we took a minibus to Kayakoy, a nearby ghost town. The place really was a ghost town - we were the only tourists around. Kaya's 4000 stone houses were abandoned during the Turkish - Greek population exchange in the 1920's and later damaged by an earthquake. The remaining ruins are set in a picturesque valley next to the sea. Totally gorgeous and surreal.

Leaving Fethiye, we snagged a "free" shuttle ride to the bus station. Technically it's only free if you buy a bus ticket through the agent that picks you up. The guy picked 6 of us up from the hostel...3 girls had bus tickets and the rest of us did not. At the station he ushered us into the office to buy a ticket. We had no intention of buying one, so I told him we needed a minute to decide. The second he left us alone we bolted. Lowest point of my trip so far: running from the bus station to save 40TL. This is the life of an unemployed traveler :P